Atomfall Reviews
In its latest action-adventure game, Sniper Elite developer Rebellion lays out a solid plan to thrive in a wasteland of nuclear apocalypse games. Rather than aping Fallout or Stalker’s action RPG formula, the more streamlined Atomfall scavenges together some original ideas in its deconstructed quests and an emphasis on bartering. That could have made for a compelling survival story built around open-ended exploration, but it’s those pesky details that will get you killed during a nuclear disaster.
Atomfall is a thoroughly enjoyable game which looks and plays well, and offers a compelling narrative with surrounding exploration to keep you entertained. It's well-polished, offers good replay value, encourages you to do things a little different, and isn't bad on the eyes either, with a good design that allows it to both look good and support last-gen consoles. The score likely doesn't reflect the game as well as it should, as I would heartily recommend this to anybody, with the added advantage that it's coming to Game Pass.
Atomfall is a distinctly British take on the sci-fi apocalypse, but it’s so much more than that. The different parts of the game work together to provide the player an open-ended experience that’s both thrilling and rewarding, in a harsh world that’s begging to be explored.
I really wanted to like Atomfall, as I said that first trailer I was already intrigued by its weird and very British world but its narrative was boring to me.
Atomfall is a simplified immersive sim that transports the player into a Quarantine Zone filled with mysteries, where moral decisions shape the course of the adventure and its conclusion. Featuring a retrofuturistic sci-fi setting that is distinctly "British", Rebellion's game offers non-linear progression and a fair degree of freedom. The survival and combat mechanics are solid as well, although the final stages suffer from a sudden and unjustified spike in difficulty.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The world is beautiful and thoroughly convincing, the characters are interesting but the combat lacks polish and finesse.
Atomfall doesn’t get every piece of the survival sandbox puzzle right, but this is easy to forgive due to how much fun it is to scoff down Cornish pasties to regain health, uncover a mysterious sci-fi plot in myriad ways, and craft a needle bomb before lobbing it into a group of cultists. It’s the most quintessentially British open-world I’ve had the pleasure to explore in a video game, possibly ever, and I already can’t wait to go back to peel back even more layers of its environmental onion.
Atomfall shakes off the Fallout comparisons and stands on its own as a captivating sci-fi mystery. The gripping central story and wonderfully realized setting make it easy to forget about its shortcomings, and the lack of hand-holding is a refreshing change that other open-world games like Elder Scrolls or Assassin’s Creed should take note of.
Atomfall commits to embodying everything it means to be British, and it comes out the other side all the better for it. The mystery at the heart of the alternate 1960s setting is gripping, forever teasing clues and solutions to a way out of its rural quarantine zone. Its combat systems and mechanics let the experience down, but Rebellion's latest peaks when it makes you the countryside's Inspector Gadget with a bunch of Leads to pursue and villagefolk to suspect.
Atomfall is a delightful surprise in a year packed with big game releases. I haven't felt this amount of joy from discovery, or this level of player agency in a game in quite some time. Wherever it is on your list of games to play in 2025, move it up.
Atomfall is a really fun time that suffers from several flaws. They’re not quite enough to hurt the experience too much, but they’re noticeable. If what you want is a new survival experience, and you’re willing to put up with them, though, then I think you’ll be very satisfied, especially with the upcoming DLC.
Atomfall is still a journey worth taking and returning to, as using the knowledge gained across the first playthrough will allow you to truly take advantage of the game’s mechanics and savor the resonant little stories that play out within its end-of-the-world patch of England.
Atomfall is definitely not a game for the masses; it feels too rough and "weedy" in places. But with its overall style, it also has something that I think many games today lack: character. And for that reason alone, it's worth a look.
Review in German | Read full review
Atomfall is an adventurous game that doesn't shy away from its difficulty. It's a compelling survival game steeped in mystery, and despite some unwieldly controls, paints an interesting world to explore around in.
While Atomfall should be praised for its accessibility settings and innovative "Lead" system, a plethora of design shortcomings frustrate in this survival-RPG hybrid.
Atomfall is a quirky new slice of apocalypse – or, at least, of highly localised doom. The setting is Cumbria, in the wake of the Windscale nuclear ...
Atomfall is a good post-apocalypse game, and one that's almost as much of a love letter to United Kingdom culture as Doctor Who, but it ultimately lacks anything to set it apart from its contemporaries.
Atomfall is a great representative of AA games. It is a game focused on exploring a very interesting world that should keep you busy for a dozen hours or so. Due to a fairly low budget the game has some technical issues that – fortunately! – won’t keep you from enjoying this very atmospheric game.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Atomfall is a stunningly beautiful, yet flawed, experience that could be an easy recommend due to its presence on Xbox Game Pass, but becomes harder on other platforms.
Atomfall ticks all the right boxes. It's immersive, compelling, yet is extremely respectful of your time.